Being a student in London is not always easy. Especially as we are living through a cost of living crisis, the already expensive city is becoming increasingly challenging to manage. However, there are many things you can do to help manage your costs, whilst still enjoying life.

Choose your supermarkets wisely

There is a variety of different places to buy your weekly shop from in London, and price ranges can vary dramatically depending on several different factors. For example, corner stores and convenience stores are often more expensive than regular supermarkets and they will be more expensive in central London and cheaper the further out you go. Similarly, most big supermarket chains such as Sainsbury’s, Tesco’s and Waitrose have smaller versions of their shops. These are usually called something different such as Sainsbury’s Local and Tesco Express. The smaller versions of the big chains not only offer a smaller range of products, but they also have higher prices. In London, supermarkets can be difficult to navigate because there are relatively few big shops and mostly smaller versions of the chains. The absolute cheapest place to buy your groceries would be in Lidl or Aldi, but there might not be one close to where you live. My advice is to buy your groceries online. By buying online you can do your whole weekly shop at once and not worry about carrying everything home, and you avoid the “local” prices. Have a look at the online shop of the different supermarkets and find the one that has the things you like to eat and the most agreeable prices.

Meal prep 

Now that you have bought all your groceries, another tip is to meal prep. I know that this might seem like a daunting task and I definitley do not do it every week. However it is something that can save you a lot of money. Planning a whole week’s worth of meals might prove challenging for some, but a minor thing that you can do is to make extra dinner so that you have leftovers for lunch the next day. You will save a lot of money if you bring lunch in to campus rather than buying something. Moreover, by meal prepping you avoid coming home late to an empty fridge and having to order something. Ordering take away food can be a big drain on your wallet. 

Student discounts

The above being said, we all need a take away from time to time. In order to save money on ordering food, eating out or buying anything in general, you should use your student status as a way to get discounts. A lot of places offer student discounts so it is a very good idea to carry your student card on you at all times to be able to take advantage of these. Moreover, there are several apps you can sign up to, to claim discounts. One of the biggest ones is called UNiDAYS. If you sign up for the app you can find discount codes for a multitude of shops and restaurants both for online purchase and in person. 

Free activities 

Lastly, there are actually a lot of things to see and enjoy in London for free. London is host to a wide range of different museums, that are recognised internationally. What is great about the UK is that all public museums are free. A trip to a museum is a great weekend activity or afternoon trip with friends. I particularly recommend you go to Tate Modern for some great pieces of modern art and rotating exhibitions. Besides museums there are other things in London to see for free. There are numerous markets around, such as the Notting Hill Market, Colombia Road Flower Market and Camden Market, which are nice to visit regardless if you are buying anything. The same goes for parks. You can find beautiful parks everywhere in, and around, London.

I am not going to sugarcoat it and say that it is easy to live on a budget in London. Just the essential things you need will add up quickly. However, if you follow the above tips you might be able to save some money here and there. Every little counts!